derrick moore and stephanie perry moore. authors of the lookwood lions series of books. appreciate you being with us today. good to see you. >> thank you. >> thank you for having us. >> i want to hear more about the series of books momentarily. a very broad question we could probably spend hours on. how did we get to the point where 77% of 8th graders are reading below grade level? how did this happen? >> a great question to ask. how did it happen? you said it. kids are doing so many other things nowadays but not spending time taking advantage of their own education. great textbooks and educators and in the best school buildings but you they have to decide internally they want to take advantage of getting their own education. kids aren't finding success and therefore they are not really trying and that is what is making them fail. >> this lockwood lions series of books tries to address the fundamental issue by making reading interesting, right? >> we are so excited. we spent a lot of time in the schools and have is been asking the young people what is it that you like an